2026 Big Sky Conference Men’s Basketball Championship Basics
Format
Traditional bracket play, but with separate quarterfinal doubleheaders designed to give the top two seeds a day off before the semifinals. In addition, the No. 1 seed will face the winner of the first round of 9/10, and the No. 2 seed will face the winner of 7/8.
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Place
Idaho Central Arena in Boise no Dubbed “Starch Madness” for the seventh consecutive season it will be held on the Boise State campus.
Participants
All 10 teams will compete in this season’s event. This will be the last visit for Sacramento State, which is headed to the Big West (and the MAC for FBS football only), but the field should expand to 11 in 2027 with the return of Southern Utah and the addition of Utah Tech from the WAC, which will become an East Region-focused co-athletic conference after this season.
schedule
Downloadable PDF stand
TV/Streaming Information
ESPN+ ($) will carry the live broadcast, and Scripps Sports Montana will televise all games leading up to the semifinals.
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Round 1 (Saturday 3/7)
General Motors. 1: (10) Northern Arizona (10-22, 4-14) 65, (9) Idaho 73
General Motors. 2: (8) Sacramento State (10-21, 6-12) 45, (7) Idaho 68
Quarterfinals (Sun. 3/8)
General Motors. 3: (9) Idaho State (13-19, 5-13) vs. (1) Portland State (19-10, 13-5), 7:30
Vikings sweep: 93-87 (overtime) (away) in Game 1/3 and 88-65 (home) in Game 2/2.
General Motors. 4: (7) Idaho (18-14, 9-9) vs. (2) Montana (18-13, 12-6), 10*
Home score: Vandals 92-89 on 1/10, Bobcats 73-66 on 2/5.
Quarterfinals (Mon. 3/9)
General Motors. 5: (5) Northern Colorado (20-11, 10-8) vs. (4) Montana State (16-15, 10-8), 7:30
Home points: 1/3 Grizzlies 88-79, 3/2 Bears 85-57.
General Motors. 6: (6) Weber State (16-15, 10-8) vs. (3) Eastern Washington University (13-18, 11-7), 10*
Home games: Wildcats 91-80 on 2/15, Eagles 84-66 on 2/14.
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Semifinals (Tues. 3/10)
General Motors. 7: General Motors. 3 Winner vs. GM. 5 Winners, 9 (ESPNU)
General Motors. 8: General Motors. 4 Winner vs. GM. 6 winners, 11:30* (ESPN2)
Championship (Wednesday, March 2011)
General Motors. 9: Semifinal winners, 11:30 (ESPN2)
potential for chaos
Data originally published by Bob Vetrone Jr. on Twitter In 2020 I will be adding my own content for future seasons.
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1 seed(9): 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022
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2 seeds(4): 2015, 2021, 2023, 2025
The No. 1 seed has dominated the Big Sky Tournament, winning nine of the past 14 championships. Montana’s 2025 championship is the fourth for a No. 2 seed since the NCAA expanded its field to 68 players. In 2024, Montana State becomes the first non-top-2 team to represent the conference in the NCAA since 2010, when the fourth-seeded Grizzlies won the championship and earned a No. 14 seed due to troubles.
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Note that the conference restricted its playing fields until 2016 when it moved to a neutral site in Reno.
NCAA seeding records in the 68-team era
The NCAA’s winning days are behind us Bold.
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13 seeds (3); 2012, 2013, 2015
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No. 14 Seed(5): 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025
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No. 15 Seed(4): 2011, 2016, 2017, 2019
The Big Sky’s last NCAA victory was in 2006, when Montana State upset Nevada State by 5-12.
The top seven teams are all ranked in the NET top 200, but Weber State, EWU and the University of Montana are all ranked below 190. Although Portland State has dropped to No. 16 in some of my recent projections, the most likely seeding represented by the Big Sky is No. 15.
Last NCAA Tournament appearance
Montana: 2025 (14th seed, first round)
Montana: 2024 (16th seed, top four)
Eastern Washington: 2021 (14th seed, first round)
Weber State: 2016 (15th seed, first round)
Northern Colorado: 2011 (No. 15 seed, top 64)
Portland State: 2009 (13th seed, first round)
Northern Arizona: 2000 (No. 15 seed, first round)
Idaho: 1990 (No. 13 seed, first round)
Idaho: 1987 (16th seed, first round)
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sacramento state university Is the only Big Sky member waiting to make his NCAA debut. This is the Hornets’ last chance before moving to the Big West next season.